I knew what was coming when I saw
Larry turn off the ignition, we were doing 35 MPH and the Ford was
still in high gear. Behind us was a carload of boys from Franklin High
School and we did not like them cruising in our area.
Larry turned on a switch, then with a smile he turned the
ignition back on. Kaswoosh.... A 12-foot long flame shot out of
Larry's exhaust pipes, the driver of the Franklin car did a panic stop
right in the middle of the road and we just continued on our way
laughing.
The police car was on a side street and had witnessed the
flames coming out of Larry's car. When the red lights came on Larry
pulled the car over to the curb rolled down his window pulled out his
driver license.
With Larry's driver license in hand the police officer
asked. "Why did flames shoot out of your exhaust pipes?" "I have been
having troubles with my carb and the car just backfired, officer."
The officer told Larry to get out of the car and open his hood.
After Larry got the hood open he stepped back, the officer with
flashlight in hand checked out the engine compartment. We knew he was
looking for some type of attachment to the carb, not finding anything,
the police officer told Larry to close the hood.
When police officer handed the driver license back to Larry, he
told him "You better get that carb fixed, you don't want a fire in the
engine compartment." When the police car pulled out and went down the
street we started laughing, we laughed until we had tears in our eyes.
After Fact: In a very short time when a police officer pulled over a
hot rod, or just a car loaded with teenagers they would check out our
exhaust pipes to see if a glow plug was attached to the pipes.
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